The Darjeeling Limited Reviews

• Let's go have a drink and smoke a cigarette

  
  By A1D2C0WDCSHUWZ on 2007-12-09
  Wes Anderson is at his best when he explores a small group of people -- sometimes family, sometimes not -- and explores what makes them tick.
  
  And after the cluttered "The Life Aquatic of Steve Zissou," Anderson returns to those roots with "The Darjeeling Limited." Technically it's an Indian road trip movie, and it's full of his quirky charm... but at heart it's just about three unhapppy brothers with a lot of baggage. Both literally and psychologically.
  
  The forlorn Peter (Adrien Brody) and his luggage barely make it to an Indian train in time to join his brothers, woman-chasing writer Jack (Jason Schwartzman) and bandaged control freak Francis (Owen Wilson). They haven't spoken for a year, and now they're planning to awkwardly bond as they travel to their estranged mother's convent.
  
  But after disasters involving a snake, painkillers and pepper spray, the three brothers find themselves (and their monogrammed suitcases) thrown off the train. As they trek back to civilization, the three men set out on a quest to explore the spiritual, deal with life, death, feathers, man-eating tigers, funerals and their own painful memories... and possibly find their mom.
  
  Nobody in their right mind would expect Wes Anderson to spin up an ordinary good-ol'-boys road trip movie. At least, not the way most directors would. Instead, Anderson crafts this as the baby brother to "The Royal Tenenbaums," exploring a fractured, mildly dysfunctional family with an absent parent.
  
  And the cinematic flavour of "Darjeeling Limited" is much the same as in "Royal Tenenbaums" -- bittersweetly funny and arch, with a tinge of poetic melancholy underlying the plot. It would be an endearing movie in any setting, but somehow putting it in the mellow glow of India's dusty roads, bright fields and cluttered shrines makes it even better. The bright, visual richness gives it a sense of whimsy.
  
  For the record, Roman Coppola and Schwartzman helped Anderson out with the script, but there isn't much change. As always, lots of wry, amusingly contemplative dialogue ("I wonder if the three of us would've been friends in real life. Not as brothers, but as people"), though there is some hilarious comedic scenes of sibling infighting. It even gets slapsticky.
  
  Fortunately, Anderson never puts artificial twists into the story, for any extra drama, comedy or thrills; the closest thing would be a brief detour into a child's funeral. The story simply flows by, because it's all about the brothers -- and focusing on anything but their self-imposed journey would just be extra baggage.
  
  And the three men playing Jack, Francis and Peter are nothing short of brilliant. Brody is vaguely lost and forlorn, while Schwartzman is a quirky rake who is still haunted by his last girlfriend (played by Natalie Portman in the short intro, "Hotel Chevalier"). But there's something almost painfully wounded about Wilson's reckless control freak, which has nothing to do with his bandages.
  
  "The Darjeeling Limited" is a visually astounding, contemplative little comedy, all about three men who have to deal with the past before they can move on. Put it on the shelf next to "Royal Tenenbaums."
  
  

• Lovely Rita, don't play with me aux Champs Elysees...

  
  By A3NH7PYU4AD5GA on 2008-07-18
  Just so you don't think I write only negative film reviews, here is one that I liked. I can't say, honestly, what it is about, really, but it hits the right wave length most of the time. It is a part time screw ball comedy, but every now and then gets pulled into a serious situation.
  As I don't quite understand it, I will give it only four stars, sort of a defensive measure.
  What is it about? If you summarize that, it comes out as total nonsense. Three brothers go to India to look for their mother who has become a nun there, and they are mad with her because she didn't come to Dad's funeral a year ago. Well, I told you, it does sound like nonsense. One of the brothers has his face smashed up from a motorcycle accident, the other one just got ditched by his girl friend, while the third is looking to become a father in six weeks, though he expected to get a divorce, rather.
  The ditched one is getting used by lovely Rita, who needs to ditch her own boyfriend.
  But it is funny. Most of the time. Think of Lost in Translation in another country. Which is appropriate, as the Coppola family is somehow involved. And Bill M. is there, even if he misses the train.
  And the music! (Where do you go to, my lovely? etc)
  
  

• That's Our Train!"

  
  By A141HP4LYPWMSR on 2008-03-10
  Synopsis: An ornate and psychedelically colored train known as the Darjeeling Limited transports three estranged brothers; Francis (Owen Wilson), Peter (Adrien Brody) and Jack (Jason Schwartzman) to destinations unknown (actually Francis is attempting to arrange a rendezvous with their constantly disappearing Mother (Anjelica Huston) now living as a nun in Tibet). It has only been a year since their Father's tragic death and each brother carries their own personal heartache over his passing and their Mother's disturbing absence from the funeral.
  
  As one comes to expect when traveling with others, close proximity, annoying behaviors and old wounds eventually surface which must be dealt with as they arise. Add to the mix unforeseen events both aboard the train and at intermittent stopovers along the way and you have the makings of a transformational experience unlike anything the brothers could have anticipated.
  
  Critique: The '07 film `The Darjeeling Limited' begins painfully slow and incomprehensibly weird but if you have the fortitude to survive the first 40 minutes you will eventually find yourself on a delightfully oddball, unpredictable trek across the Indian subcontinent on a spiritual journey in search of physical, emotional and relational healing. Serving as a metaphor for life's journey, one might say that we are all aboard the Darjeeling Limited headed in the same direction to parts unknown. In the final analysis one learns that it's not where you're headed but how much baggage you drag along with you.
  
  There's a lot of food for thought hidden away in this film for those who are willing to put in the effort and watch until the very end. Give it a try if you're in the mood for something obtuse.
  
  

• Gonna take a spiritual journey

  
  By A3AVJCB1ZD6ZY5 on 2008-03-21
  There's a time out of mind feeling in "Darjeeling Limited" that makes me think it could just as easily have taken place in the 60's. If Francis (Owen Wilson) hadn't kept looking for a power cord, I would have been flashing back to the time when the Kinks' music from the soundtrack was original.
  
  The story's about three brothers: Francis (Owen Wilson), Peter (Adrien Brody), and Jack (Jason Schwartzman). Francis originally tells his two younger sibs they're going on a spiritual journey after their father's death. His real motive is to find their mother (Anjelica Huston), who's gone off to an Indian convent instead of attending their father's funeral.
  
  Unfortunately, the brothers are not only not bonding--they're driving the conductor crazy til they get kicked off. They do manage to pull things together to help some locals and in so doing, experience the revival they'd needed. From there, they travel to see their Mom.
  
  Even if the brothers are occasionally depressing, the scenery, music, and train are well worth watching "Darjeeling Limited" for. This is definitely a spiritual journey even for those of us watching in the audience.
  
  

• Typical Wes Anderson...amusing, clever, hip and a bit lightweight. He needs to make a movie without his cocoon of film friends

  
  By A2GCHG6U8HTVIT on 2007-10-29
  Instead of Mickey yelling out, "Hey, gang, let's put on a show in the old barn!" we have Wes Anderson calling together all his film-making friends and saying, "Hey gang, let's make a movie in India!" And being Wes Anderson, we can expect the movie to be amusing, warm, clever, heavy on the protagonists struggling to learn life's lessons...and lightweight. The Darjeeling Limited, a story of three brothers traveling in India who are trying, sometimes reluctantly, to resolve family issues, has a number of fine qualities. Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman work very well together as the edgy brothers. All the actors are fun to watch. Bill Murray has an amusing and wordless bit as a man racing to catch a train. The settings throughout India are intriguing. There are one or two delayed jokes that can create a smile. But in my opinion there's just not much weight behind the hip, gentle humor. Anderson's fascination with relationships is nothing new. And with Anderson's need at the conclusion to underline the movie's message -- we need to discard all that old baggage we keep hauling around -- by making the message literal, we wind up not with a gentle moral message but with ponderous movie making.
  
  I have a feeling that if Anderson is unable or unwilling stop making movies without the comfortable cocoon of like-minded film friends around him, he's going to fade into repetitive irrelevance. Even cleverness is no substitute for a well-constructed story. For instance, The Darjeeling Limited comes with a 13-minute seemingly separate film short which takes place enigmatically in a suite in a Paris hotel. The two unnamed characters are played by Schwartzman and Natalie Portman. There are silent expectations and silent moments, some sad and smart dialogue, and we get the idea that the woman left the man, may be coming back into his life...but maybe not for long. A bed plays a prominent part, with Schwartzman staying clothed and Portman nude. What's the point? None, except as a little slice of accomplished film-making. We wind up, during those 13 minutes, getting involved with these two people and their attempt, especially by the Schwartzman character, to hope for the best. Ah, but then in The Darjeeling Limited, we find that the short was just a set-up, and an unnecessary one, for another amusing delayed bit of character humor. Was it needed? No. Was it clever? Yes. Is it an example of the kind of flabby storytelling and insider cuteness that can happened among film friends who are making a movie? I think so.
  
  What I really enjoyed about The Darjeeling Limited was life aboard the Indian train as it chugged through the countryside for half of the movie...what the old, elegant sleeper compartments and the fringed dining car looked like...how the tea and snacks were delivered...what the system of ticket taking was on board...how the train attendants worked...what the train stations looked like. But then I like trains. But I'm not so sure I'll be eager again to get on board another Wes Anderson movie unless he sets off in a new direction.
  
  
• Rather Topical And Blatantly Self-Indulgent
  By A3OG00U18SF1Z on 2007-12-30
  Generally being a fan of Wes Anderson's prior films, I certainly entered this film not wanting to dislike it. But in contrast to his other films such as the Royal Tenenbaums or even Rushmore, The Darjeeling Limited simply possesses too many overt flaws for me to be its champion. The film tracks the "journey" of three brothers across India, aboard a train. That's probably as far as this film takes you in the way of a story arc. We know virtually nothing about their past whatsoever, other than the fact that they have been estranged and each have relationship problems of some undefined nature. As a testament to this conspicuous lack of character development, we are privy to an excruciatingly uninformative 10 minute flashback that reveals absolutely nothing about the characters, except that they missed their father's funeral while in-fighting about the prospect of salvaging a damaged car from a repair shop. Like many of the chosen scenes in this film, you get the sense that cinematic opportunities and provacative story elements were squandered for no objective reason. For example, their mother, played by Anjelica Huston, is portrayed as absent and estranged from her children in some rustic convent, and we are given virtually no explanation for her alienating behavior (either past or present). Furthermore, the brothers find themselves the sudden guests of a rural family after Adrian Brody attempts to save a young boy from drowning in a river. Nothing becomes of this, other than the brothers attending a rural funeral, and we're left with a sense that this sequence is being inserted -- rather obviously and uninterestingly, to boot -- into the story in order to imbue the characters with some "powerful" spiritual epiphany. In the end, unfortunately, these characters are inescapably one dimensional, as compared to many of the Wes Anderson heroes that we have met in the past (i.e., Royal Tenenbaum and Max Fisher). This film feels more like a last minute artistic light bulb that flashed in the minds of Roman Coppola, Wes Anderson, and Jason Schwartzman as they were flying back from the Far East. They probably had a wonderful trip to India and felt that they could fashion something amazingly evocative and artistic from their exploits. Unfortunately, it feels more self-indulgent, than meaningful, and honestly feels that they wrote the script in about 2 hours and didn't really care about developing it further. Perhaps Wes Anderson has reached a point in his career where he can assemble sprawling scenes with manufactured bits of ambiguity, and rest upon his former laurels to deem his current work "brilliant." But in the grand scheme of Anderson's cinematic canon, this film falls towards the lower ranks.
  
  
• Very Limited Darjeeling!
  By A7J77UMZRCSBP on 2008-03-02
  I hated this movie. It was 91 minutes of excruciating agony to watch three self-absorbed, small-minded jerks ride on a train. There is no message or deeper meaning to this movie, except perhaps to avoid films set on trains, films about Americans in India, and, above all, films by Wes Anderson. If you are looking for a vastly superior movie about three brothers and their bonding rituals, try any of those starring Larry, Curly, and Moe.
  
  
• Anderson's Best Yet
  By A11SPSEM08VIXX on 2007-10-31
  Wes Anderson's films are often misunderstood. Starchy, disillusioned cynics need not see his films. His films are sentimental and adhere to sensibilities that require a certain amount of adolescence lingering on in your adulthood. If you have grown up so much that you no longer wish to partake in any kind of silliness, horseplay, or tomfoolery then you will most likely be lost watching this film as well as his others. This is not to say that his films are not for adults. They are. His films are almost always made seemingly for the PG13 rating system of today but are slightly peppered with a few things that will surly garner an R rating. I can easily imagine him throwing in some F-words like this film had, or like in the Royal Tenenbaums, a nude poster for Margot's play. I think he wants the films to be rated R and does not want his childlike veneer that lies over all his work to be mistook for something geared towards kids. One of the best ways to look at his films is to just imagine the film as how a child might imagine adulthood. They always have a spy-like secret agent feel to them. I remember the way I felt when I was 7 when I had stayed up late the night before to watch a James Bond film on TV. I felt the thrill of having been a witness to adulthood, danger, sex, and quick one liner comedy. All Wes Anderson films have this, and perfectly recreate this feeling in me.
  
  This film, as well as his others all have a focused attention to subtext and mes-en-scene throughout . The characters as well as the carefully constructed sets have many detailed props, much of which is never fully explained. Bruises, glasses, a belt, a robe, a song or an ipod, perfume, a poisonous snake (I had childhood love of reptiles), and many mysterious compartments on a beautiful train all are there for your enjoyment. Some times items are explained and other times they are not. This gives the film extraordinary depth, intricacy and weight that is often lacking in most films today. His films are put together so well and with such care that you leave the theater feeling as though you were just on an adventure that you have been waiting for all your life. It's not coincidence that he uses homes, boats, and now a train to carefully construct his story around. These are vehicles in which throughout our daily lives, stuff happens. They facilitate the adventures for the people who are interacting within them. The possibility for adventure is always present when one goes on a trip, takes on a task, or goes home after being away for a long time. Anderson understands this as perfectly as any human on this planet can. Only Stanley Kubrick filled his films with as much props and used as much subtext and symbolism. Anderson is not as allegorical as Kubrick was and his films are certainly much, much different. Still the compositional care to film as a visual medium in which each shot needs the same amount of care and consideration as the one that just followed is 100% present on par with Kubrick.
  
  I see in Anderson's films many possible influences that he has possibly used. Here are a few of them: Joseph Cornell, Peanuts, J D Salinger, The Hardy Boys, Ian Fleming, Johnny Quest, Jacques Cousteau, Kramer VS Kramer, Woody Allen, Devo, Classical music, and indoor home made tents under blankets. This is just a short list. Anderson has admitted to several of these. Just spotting the Egon Schiele book neatly placed by a water color in Hotel Chevalier is proof positive that Wes has good taste in Art and has a depth that can not easily be summed up in just a short list.
  
  He is the best and most unique filmmaker alive today and has single handedly taken the place of several of the old guard who are either dead, or way over the hump and beyond their prime. Anderson has also brought back to the movie-plex a push for the old cinema that used to draw people in with stories and tales meant to make us think, imagine, and feel like we have experienced something meaningful without making us feel guilty or overtly sad. I will be eagerly awaiting his next film, The Fantastic Mr Fox, based on the book of the same name by Roald Dahl. This film is for kids but if you have read the book, it is, for a kids book, extremely violent and full of danger. The fact that Anderson is crossing the fence and visiting a kids story rife with danger for his next film is no surprise to me. I could easily see him having a career that goes back and forth between adult-themed films geared for kids, and kid-themed films geared for adults. I will be there with my pole vault waiting to get in.
  
  Bravo Mr Anderson!
  
  
• World ... this is the Shark, I just jumped the people tank ...
  By A10C5CJK1YKGV0 on 2008-07-16
  
  Technique #01:
  
  Edward Hopper lighting and mood meets Winslow Homer film paintings -- some times in slow motion, sometimes weaving through the frame with a small amount of tracking. Wow, Wes Anderson is bloody genius, man!
  
  I guess Wes Anderson believes in his heart of hearts that repeating different aspects of the same tale about a family of dysfunctional self-absorbed, trust-funding Manhattan-ite Billionaires is remotely interesting at least to some people. He's bold for believing so, but foolish for not fleshing out his work a little better and trying to draw us in closer.
  
  Maybe the story started with Rushmore, then went to The Royal Tenenbaums and then The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and now (hopefully) ending full-circle now with The Darjeeling Limited. I say ending, because any more of this might begin to reflect on the previous films and detract from them over time by association. Like when Star Wars geeks say stuff like: "I like the even numbered films but not the odd numbered ones." No, they all suck, buddy. You see how five other films dragged down The Empire Strikes Back into forgettable obscurity?
  
  Technique #02:
  
  I love Film Noir, depression as a main theme and even suicide, Harold and Maude being one of my favourite films, but this film just misses the mark on all counts. I really got the feeling that Jason Schwartzman and Wes Anderson were sitting on a bag of cocaine the size of Kirsten Dunst and came up with the bulk of the ideas and dialogue for this project. Even the opening segment, which was optional viewing came across as nothing more than self-indulgent film-making at its worst.
  
  Jason Schwartzman is a dynamic actor who basically just hangs around in this film giving it the only energy that's visible and seems to move it along all by himself and his own force of will. My will to continue watching continually faded, without a doubt, but I did stick with it.
  
  "He's a genius! You need your art spoonfed to ya!" ... the fanboys scream in the background.
  
  Yeah, well, we've seen this all before though haven't we? I find it interesting that no one seems to hold Wes Anderson to any type of benchmark or standard and then just knee-jerk reacts every time he makes a film. While the Life Aquatic was the highpoint of his career thus far, this might serve as a forgettable low-point that the fan boys will all worship, as they hold aloft their boutique made blown-glass mutli-coloured bongs in unison and cry out:
  
  "We Anderson is a Golden God!!"
  
  I think the same people that worship at the alter of Wes Anderson are also the same group of film hypocrites that expect every movie M. Knight makes to be "better" and more surprising at the end than The Sixth Sense.
  
  "O happy masses ... this is thy cliff!"
  
  
  
  
  
• pretty bad and clueless
  By A1NIEIENEWXCCQ on 2008-05-27
  This film is an almost perfect flop. The characters are rigid, wooden, emotionally dull and unidimensional, the script fuzzy and pointless; in other words, the film reflects a not-very- bright dopester's idea of a fun and profound life. Unfortunately, Anderson seems to be oblivious of the fact that Yellow Submarine has already been made - 40 years ago by people who were crazier, smarter and more creative than him.
  
  And the film is not funny! The tired pseudo-spirituality jokes and, especially, the boring and pointless 1st part which was made so that Wes could spend a week in Paris with Portman - help this film to tank utterly and completely.
  
  The India shown in DL is not the real India but an edited-into-oblivion, fantasized and disemboweled version of it. Nor do we see real Indians but rather bleached, sanitized non-entities, some (like the lovely Rita maid character) with a London accent.
  
  The only redeeming point here (in addition to the iPod gags) is the cinematography set into the beautiful landscapes of Rajasthan. The visuals (enhanced by a huge team of local painters) are excellent, warm blues, yellows and greens, the enhanced clarity of detail - as if everyone on the set was tripping. Which they probably were.
  
  
• A big mess for Wes
  By A32XW50ILWOXNO on 2008-04-22
  "The Darjeeling Limited" is a flop, a retread, a bore, and another sign that writer/director Wes Anderson can't press every character and story into his rigid template of cool detachment and visual irony. It's not even disappointing, really; you could see in Anderson's previous feature, "The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou," this ambition to make just about any subject funnel into his bug jar of wondrous twigs, leaves and such. Never mind if it leaves the audience stuck in first gear, perpetually sizing up leery archetypes that seem stolen from that creepy brother Dan Futterman played in the TV show "Judging Amy." The characters in this India-by-train travel narrative are so flat and inert they become models in Anderson's moving diorama. What in the world are you supposed to do with them?
  
  Yeah, "The Royal Tenenbaums" is a masterpiece. Was then, still is, gets better with age, one of the seminal works of the era, yessir, all that. (Spare us the anointing oil on "Rushmore" and "Bottle Rocket.") And for that, to Wes, we say thanks. "Tenenbaums" is also six years old, a perfect marriage of subject and tone, and somewhere in Anderson's wheelhouse. The guy got a bit self-satisfied with "The Life Aquatic" - not a terrible movie (endearing, even colorful) but more or less something you'd dream up in your backyard sandbox - but "Darjeeling" smacks of a half-baked idea cut squarely off at the knees (Anderson can't even be troubled to keep the titular train around for the second and third acts) crossed with the director's trademark muted sentiment and one of those hairpin turns into tragedy he likes so much.
  
  Does "The Darjeeling Limited" have a point? Oh, sure. It's same one Anderson's been making for years: Familial reconciliation, tinged with the complexity and bittersweetness of human nature. This time it's three brothers, one of whom is recovering from a severe car accident, on a bonding trip through the land that stopped Alexander The Great cold. The train is appropriately quirky, although Anderson's camera never lingers for too long, and there is no cuter-than-thou introduction to it. Francis (Owen Wilson) has arranged the trip for Jack (Jason Schwartzman) and Peter (Adrien Brody); he runs it on a supposedly tight itinerary he has printed out by his assistant, who stays in a different part of the train.
  
  Jack's the cad, and a writer. Peter's the softy, and Francis is the control freak, an annoying trait that is no less so when we discover its roots. The elephant in the room is their father's death; we can only guess at the trauma, because all three brothers hail from the "Oh. Wow." factory of emotional output. This is, in fact, the Tenenbaum family poured into these fellows - like Richie crafted picture after picture of Margot, they glumly cling to their father's possessions, such as a 12-piece set of Louis Vuitton luggage.
  
  The Anderson formula also includes some exotic, vaguely creepy foreign woman, smoking, the previously mentioned jarring transition, a dash of postmodern, story-within-a-story meta, Anjelica Huston and Bill Murray, and some music from The Kinks. Standard Wes fare.
  
  In "Darjeeling," none of it works. The random sex is crass, and the depiction of India, while not phony, is not terrible complete, either, seeing that the brothers spend most of their trip in the utter wilderness, where virtually no one lives. Anderson would have us believe Schwartzman has the looks and charm to attract women while the director buries Brody's natural electricity so he can play the "precious" brother. The roles should have been switched. Wilson's performance is supposed to be affecting because it came around the time of his suicide attempt; I guess I'm not so easily moved. His Francis is a particular irritant, both boorish and completely full of crap, easing off the gas pedal only after he's been lured into a fistfight. The brothers only seem that way in Jack's story-within-a-story, and, even then, we're not sure if it's an accurate evocation of their feelings, or just the middle brother's wishful thinking. Either way - who cares? "Anderson loses any non-conditioned member of the audience quickly in the first reel, tries a stab at pathos around halftime, and simply fritters about after that.
  
  Note: "The Darjeeling Limited" comes with a short film entitled "Hotel Chevalier," a prologue featuring Jack and his ex-girlfriend, played by Natalie Portman. Esoteric and bewildering, it's kind of 13-minute scene a college student might write, enthusiastically graded by a fiction professor. It lacks any humor whatsoever and any noticeable warmth, but Portman quickly becomes naked and says a naughty word. For some reason, it still turns some weirdos on when a smart, bright kid like Portman shows how much she can't act against her essential nature by dragging her fingernails in dirt.
  
  
• Never judge a book by its cover!
  By A2PXWWKRBCCPAH on 2008-05-21
  Isn't it the dumbest thing to judge a movie by its title? Well, that's what I had done with this little jewel of a movie. When I looked at the theater schedules, my eyes just skipped this title for whatever reasons. But I should've known better because the famous "never judge a book by its cover" proverb has always been around, hasn't it?
  
  I came across this movie while I was channel surfing and was lucky to catch it just as it was starting. I didn't know anything about it, so it really helped that the initial scene shows no other than Bill Murray riding a cab going furiously fast, through the crowded streets of an Indian city.
  
  Bill Murray's character arrives at the train station and then runs along the platform trying to catch the Darjeeling Limited, a train which is just starting to leave. Then, in a choreographed slow motion shot, we see Peter Whitman (Adrien Brody) catching up with Bill, getting ahead of him, and eventually leaving him behind as he catches the train and boards it through the last car. We won't see Bill's character until a brief scene later in the movie; what we see, instead, is a close-up of Peter lifting his sunglasses and triumphantly looking back at a defeated Bill Murray as he gives up trying to catch the train. This is the beginning of the mesmerizing journey of three brothers, Peter, Francis and Jack Whitman, through interior India, while they look for a reason to be together.
  
  The Whitman brothers share two cabins on the Darjeeling Limited which is loosely based on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, a legendary train that runs through West Bengal in northeast India. It's been some time since they saw each other and for some reason Peter and Jack have agreed with Francis to take this trip.
  
  As brothers, they have things in common. They like to smoke cigarettes and they share a taste for over the counter drugs and painkillers. They all carry and share an inherited, expensive, Louis Vuitton-like complete luggage set, which is almost a character in itself; and of course, they all share a past of which, luckily, we get to see a glimpse.
  
  They're brothers, but they are also very different. They all wear suits, but when it's time for bed, Francis wears a "Darjeeling Limited" pajama; Peter wears boxers, a dress shirt and a sleeping mask; and Jack wears the bathrobe he brought from his brief stay with his girlfriend at a luxurious Paris hotel. They sleep in these, but they also fight, pray and confer. Unexpectedly, these outfits tell us much of what these characters have been through.
  
  Owen Wilson is perfect as Francis, the eldest, who spends almost the entire movie with his head wrapped in an odd-looking set of bandages. He recently crashed with his motorcycle and was technically dead for a moment. He is single or perhaps divorced, and takes, or tries to take, the role of leader and organizes the itinerary. He is struggling to be the glue that they need to stay together but goes a little over the top and even orders what Jack and Peter are having for dinner.
  
  Jason Schwartzman is Jack, the youngest, a published writer who has a high maintenance girlfriend. His stories, so he says, are based on "fictional" characters, but those suspiciously mirror exactly what happens to him, his girlfriend and his family. Jack is the most candid and doesn't hesitate to say to Francis and Peter: "I wonder if the three of us would've been friends in real life. Not as brothers, but as people".
  
  Adrien Brody plays Peter, the soon-to-be dad who likes to wear his father's prescription glasses although these give him a never-ending headache. Perhaps we get to know the least about Peter, but Brody does an excellent job and with his solemn, woebegone expressions he gets Peter to speak a thousand words.
  
  The screenplay by Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola and Jason Schwartzman is extraordinary. But the absolute beauty of this screenplay resides not in the things the characters get to say, but rather in the ones left unsaid. It is like a fill in the blanks puzzle that Anderson and company have given us to complete. I bet anyone can come up with some interesting theories on what it is that we don't see in this movie. I sure came with mine. Initially, I was trying to think of the most logical plot, one that made sense. However, when I saw this movie a second, and a third time, I stopped trying to connect the dots, forgot about logic, took pleasure in the outstanding performances and enjoyed every moment of it.
  
  This is a tale that can spread over so many things that I'm still overwhelmed. It is a story about faith and fate; trust, relationships, aspirations and frustrations; desperation and death. Conceivably, above all, it is a story about friendship, family and love. I do not deny that the mood you're in definitely affects the way a movie affects you. But in this case, I am sure it must be repeatedly delightful and engaging, regardless of your mood, to witness these three brothers spend a few days together, do good beyond what they initially intended and successfully complete their spiritual quest.
  
  This is a funny, engaging and very well made movie. The cinematography, by Robert Yeoman, is outstanding. Teaming up again with Anderson, Yeoman beautifully shoots it through stunning Indian locations in a yellowish, somber tone, mixes it with some slow motion and every now and then shifts to bright blues, reds and greens. The back and forth through the train cabins and the close-ups of the Whitman brothers give this movie a peculiar and unforgettable feel.
  
  Acting, casting, editing, art direction, production design and specially the music and songs, are all exactly what this film needs. Supporting cast is also vital. Like Bill Murray, Anjelica Houston joins Wes Anderson again, and delivers a solid, key performance. Also, after appearing alongside Jason Schwartzman in "Hotel Chevalier", the 13 minute prelude to the Darjeeling Limited, Natalie Portman can be seen briefly as Jack's girlfriend.
  
  I've always thought that having just up to four stars to rate a movie is like trying to write your full name with just four letters. In this case, "The Darjeeling Limited" gets my highest rating because I could not think of a single flaw in it, nor any way this movie could be better, and most of all, because I really enjoyed it.
  
  "The Darjeeling Limited" might become a "cult" film. Wes Anderson has another couple of "cult" movies to his writing and directing credits: The Royal Tenenbaums and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. I've also skipped those in the past. For sure that, soon, will be corrected. And please, never, ever, judge a movie by its title, poster or trailer!
  
  
  
• Not for everyone
  By A2TBWLOHTZNK54 on 2008-05-27
  I admire Anderson's films like The Royal Tenenbaums and Life Aquatic a great deal, they're among my favorites. It was a disappointment then that I didn't feel any of the same pleasure in watching his latest.
  
  Darjeeling chronicles the barely adventures of 3 brothers in India. It feels boring, awkward, and a bit like having someone ram bad jokes at you over and over with the many running gags, none of which is clever. The biggest problem I had is these are different characters than the usual Wes Anderson-verse, or rather, they feel like what would usually be bit characters with 3 lines. I can guess, but I don't know for sure, that this movie might be some kind of homage to 60's films. I wasn't alive then and don't seek out Beatles movies for fun, so I wouldn't know. If that's the case though I have to say I'm let down. I've come to respect Anderson as someone making movies with a deep helping of everything, from character depth to comedy... so if he's moved to one-dimensional parody of older films, what a waste.
  
  Hopefully, this is a one-off trip into dullsville and his next film is great.
  
  
  
  
• "Darjeeling" Is A Strong Brew, But Not Without Faults
  By A3M2WW0PO34B94 on 2007-10-11
  I am happy to say that the new Wes Anderson film "The Darjeeling Limited" is much better than his last film "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou". But that is almost like damning the film with faint praise. It would be difficult for this film to be as bad as the director's last.
  
  That said, "Darjeeling" has some winning performances, some great humorous moments and seems to reintroduce us to the wacky sensibility that made us love the director in the first place. "Darjeeling" is not without it's problems, but it is a very funny and amusing film.
  
  Peter (Adrian Brody) runs to catch the Darjeeling Limited which is pulling out of a train station in a major Indian city. He soon joins his two brothers, Francis (Owen Wilson) and Jack (Jason Schwartzman). Francis planned this trip, with the help of his beleaguered assistant, Brendan (Wallace Wolodarsky, a former producer on "The Simpsons"), because they have not spoken in over a year. He misses their conversation, their sibling rivalry and their companionship. Francis has the entire trip planned, down to the religious ceremonies they will perform at various holy sights. But when the brothers start to act up, due to a variety of circumstances, including divergent personalities, over the counter medicines and a poisonous snake, the Chief Steward (Waris Ahluwalia) kicks them off the train in the middle of the dessert. Francis soon reveals his hidden agenda and they pull together to get through the trip and become brothers again.
  
  Each of Wes Anderson's films has a style unique to the filmmaker. Each of his films is populated by a collection of off-center people who live eccentric lives in an eccentric environment. Generally, his characters have money, either as a new circumstance or their bank accounts are dwindling, but they are still used to living a certain way. "The Darjeeling Limited" is no exception. From the moment we meet Francis, we begin to learn he has a company of his own, and feels the need to show this off by bringing his assistant along on the trip. Brenda will drop off their schedule every morning, under the door of their compartment, before they even wake up. They brought along a computer and laminating machine to aid in this task. As Jack runs to catch the train, he is carrying a couple of pieces of odd luggage, luggage that would probably be more comfortable in the hands of a child, each piece appears to have dinosaur stickers plastered over it. As he enters the compartment he will share with his brothers, we see many other pieces of the same luggage, all of it an exact match down to the monogram. Anderson goes to a lot of trouble to design every aspect of the universe his characters will inhabit. From what I understand, he designed every aspect of the train cars we see in the film. This attention to detail shows, giving the main setting for a significant portion of the film a character; these train compartments are interesting and unique, they appear like something we would expect to find in India, but are so gaudy and over decorated, like a British Lord initially commissioned them. Now independent, the Indians seem determined to uphold the tradition of the train cars while injecting their own indigenous traditions to the interior.
  
  Each of the three leads is good and adds significantly to the overall quirky nature of the film. Owen Wilson, who has been the focus of a number of tabloid stories lately, plays Francis, the more domineering brother. At dinner, he orders food for his brothers. And he is also the force behind the trip and their itinerary. He set-up the trip because he realized the three brothers were not communicating anymore and needed some bonding time.
  
  As the more domineering, fussy member of the family, Wilson's Francis is the least funny of the three. It doesn't help that Wilson's slow drawl sort of lends a whiny quality to his character. But he is still good. When the brothers get together, they slowly start to devolve into the children they once were and Francis finds his role, mother hen.
  
  Adrian Brody's Peter is an interesting guy. He agrees to go on the trip because he is having some trouble with his girlfriend back home and wants to escape for a while. A grown man, he is unable to hide his former self when he gets together with his brothers; Francis decides Peter should have the top bunk, his long legs dangling over the side and the gangly brother is chugging some over the counter Indian pain medicine, which his siblings begin to share. But Peter seems to recognize the need for the bonding time and goes along with his brother's overbearing plans.
  
  I have never been a huge fan of Jason Schwartzman, but he is also good as Jack, clearly the youngest brother. There are some references to his life as a successful writer, living in Paris, trying to get over his ex-girlfriend. Jack carries around a short story he just competed and eagerly seeks the approval of his other brothers.
  
  From the moment they board the train, Jack is smitten with Rita (Amara Karan), an employee on the train, a sort of stewardess who makes sure the guests have enough refreshments. She recognizes the look in Jack's eyes as he continues to pursue her.
  
  Anjelica Huston pops up in a small role as Patricia, a nun living in a small monastery at the foot of the Himalayas. Patricia once played a role in the lives of the three men and their visit with her is cathartic.
  
  As much as there is to love about "Darjeeling", it makes a similar mistake to "The Life Aquatic", a mistake that derails the Bill Murray film. Thankfully, the events in "Darjeeling" only prove to provide an odd side trip in their journey. A confusing side trip at that; the events really seem to have no connection to the brothers or their journey. I think the key difference here is "Life Aquatic" ends with this event, leaving us with this as our final memory. In "Darjeeling", the similar event happens earlier, giving us some story to help us forget the problematic part of the story.
  
  "The Darjeeling Limited" is a quirky, fun, funny look at three brothers on a road trip. There are also a few surprised sure to delight many in the audience.
  
  
  
• Could be Anderson's best...funny, yet startlingly touching
  By A2R1HAXRNU0QX7 on 2007-12-24
  If you haven't cared for Wes Anderson movies in the past, THE DARJEELING LIMITED will probably not help you get over that hurdle. In my opinion, his flat-out funniest film is still THE ROYAL TENNANBAUMS...but if you don't like that, it's hard to imagine you would like DARJEELING.
  
  On the other hand, if you're a fan of the quirky, dead-pan, drier than dust humor, coupled with unorthodox camera work (a motionless camera, or a camera that moves side to side but seldom in and out) and fanciful art direction, DARJEELING should be your cup of tea (pun intended).
  
  Three estranged brothers, each carrying a load of psychic baggage, come together on a ramshackle train in India to go our a "journey of spiritual growth." This journey has been arranged by the oldest brother, Owen Wilson. He tells them that he wants them to bond and grow close again. And in a way, this is true...but it also appears he wants them to help each other come to terms with the grief over their father's death (although he may not even realize this is a goal) and he has one other destination in mind that is a big secret (which I'll try not to spoil here.)
  
  Middle brother is Adrien Brody, who is expecting to become a father any day now, but hasn't even bothered to tell his wife that he's going on this trip. His grief over the loss of his father is mostly obviously displayed, because he is wearing this father's glasses, even though the prescription probably isn't right for him.
  
  The youngest brother is Jason Schwartzman, who is grappling with a prolong breakup with his girlfriend (played by Natalie Portman in a little movie called HOTEL CHEVALIER which is now thankfully being played as part of this film's theatrical release. I can't imagine enjoying DARJEELING properly without having seen it). Schwartzman is also a writer, and he has brought with him a handwritten draft of a new short story which obviously has resonance for his brothers.
  
  These three are oddballs, to say the least. They really don't belong in India, and really struggle to get along with each other. They are classic Anderson characters, removed from their emotions, full of verbal and physical quirks and tics, supremely intelligent and hugely sad.
  
  At the beginning of the film, Bill Murray makes a brief cameo appearance. Is there any actor better at being funny with so much sadness working today? In LOST IN TRANSLATION, his character, while witty, was burdened with sadness. In Anderson's much maligned THE LIFE AQUATIC, Murray is nearly crippled with his sadness. Murray has brought this to an art form not really seen since perhaps the time of Chaplin. So his early appearance in DARJEELING almost helps to set that mood of sadness that permeates virtually every moment of the film. But this does not make it oppressive. The beautiful country of India, the colorful settings (the train itself is a marvel of design) and the off-the-wall incidents that occur keep the audience happily engaged.
  
  What I like about Anderson's characters is that they generally do not carry anger. So often in films, characters who are grieving or holding in some other emotion will frequently burst out in anger or violence. It's become an easy cliché. However, Anderson's characters are sad. They tamp down on that sadness, and when it does bubble up, it's seldom a physical explosion, but more of a collapse. They are touchingly simple moments, usually. Because the characters have spent most of the movie squashing their feelings, when they DO come up, it is all the more effective for the viewer. There are moments in DARJEELING of simple, touching sadness...and they are very effective.
  
  So yes, this is not a happy movie. I think in many ways, people are turned off by the films because they are expecting a quirky but harmless comedy. However, in ROYAL TENNANBAUMS, Ben Stiller has a scene of such startling sadness and pain that it is almost too much for the viewer. In LIFE ACQUATIC, Murray's character suffers a very painful loss near the end of the film, taking the viewer into an area that they probably didn't want to go. And DARJEELING has a couple of moments that are totally unexpected, including a scene when the brothers are kicked off the train for bad behavior and wander into a rural village just in time to plunge into some earth-shattering events. I know some viewers and some critics find the change in tone shocking and unwelcome. For me, it was a powerful moment...and a poignant one. Also, a vivid reminder that just because a movie (or life) appears to be going in one direction...don't be surprised if it takes a different turn.
  
  All three leads are terrific. It's particularly nice to see Wilson back in form...reminding us that he is capable of something other than the complete goofball he can play in his sleep. Angelica Huston has a small, but critical role and she is very good too.
  
  Also, I have to mention the terrific soundtrack. The three obscure songs from The Kinks are highlights for me, and turned the album into a must have! I never dreamed that "Powerman" would ever be used in a film...but it's brilliant.
  
  As I wrote this review, I realized that I was going to have to see the movie again this weekend. I can't wait for the DVD release. To me, it was that good. But again, if you don't like Anderson films, you probably won't like this one either (although, I can keep my fingers crossed that you may try anyway...and end up impressed.)
  
  
  
• East and West Collide
  By A3EE0H0NWQ9QVL on 2008-03-04
  `The Darjeeling Limited,' should be evaluated by how much mirth and wisdom it provides. The film comes across like a train wreck, giving us a fresh take on the familiar culture clash between East and West. While watching this film, I kept thinking of The Beatles and their films. One reason is that the three brothers presented run (madcap) through the titled Indian train; the other is that they journey through the heart of India searching for wisdom.
  
  At the start of the movie Jack (Jason Schwartzman) is in France. He is a successful novelist renting a Paris hotel room for weeks on end. His lover calls, saying she has found him and asks him if she can arrive within a half hour. He says alright, but when she does arrive, it is established that he is there to get away from her. Even so, they feel so passionate about each other, they find it hard to part ways. He had to flee to Paris, but he doesn't resist her advances.
  
  In the next frame of the movie, Jack catches up to his brothers, Francis (Owen Wilson) and Peter (Adrien Brody). All agree to an enlightening adventure to get away from it all, while their parents have been in India for some time. It is quickly established that their father passed away there, and their mother has entered a convent and become a nun. Francis is the eldest, and although he is the most vocal about letting go and absorbing the lessons they can gain from the East, he is also the most grasping and controlling of the other two.
  
  He sets their purpose with three agreements: A.) Seek the unknown B.) with an open mind..., and C.) even if it`s shocking and painful. Funny, but without knowing it, we learn without preaching that all of them have brought plenty of baggage (literally as well as figuratively) along their journey.
  
  In one telling scene, they are running for the Darjeeling Limited, and they all make it aboard while another man (Bill Murray) is left behind. Later on, because of mishaps that shouldn't be mentioned, they catch up to another train, and we find this character is on the same train. Just be still and don't run for trains, I can hear Wes Anderson, showing us in many frames. You'll catch another one. The journey within is supreme. "Arrive without traveling," as George Harrison wrote and sang for The Beatles' "The Inner Light". There is a more substantial development that occurs, but I'll leave you to unearth that for yourselves.
  
  `The Darjeeling Limited' is more than a travel adventure. While I don't think mirth and wisdom were necessarily brought in aces, they certainly were highly present. Being a person who loves a visual feast, I couldn't help but be partial to Anderson's shifting 90-degree angle camera changes and how he captures the color and light. Besides the yellow lettering framing a vivid blue train, we have nearly neon colors contrasting with bright saris and white turbans. All in all, the film is not entirely a substantial journey, but an arresting one at that.
  
  
• GREAT movie
  By A9HRLM6HZV70W on 2008-04-05
  I had seen the movie trailers and immediately knew this wasn't a Hollywood commercial movie, just started to wonder when would I have a chance to see it, since I live in Mexico and non-commercial movies are seldom shown in theater screens. My choices: 1.- Download a screener -horrible quality- movie, from someone who had sneaked a videocamera into a theater, or 2.- Pre-order the movie from amazon.
  
  I went for the latter option, it took ages, but as soon as I got it and popped it in the dvd player, I was struck by uncertainty, car chase, celebrity faces, camera movements and still no words spoken. It was thrilling, fast paced, and then... it takes you deep into a families womb, brotherly bonds, secrets, communication (or lack of), complex subjacent motives, (un)attachments, needs, with a dash of casual sex and darkly fun situations; it is definitely a Great, well rounded movie, it certainly deserves watching it over in company of thinking friends (you know, the ones that don't laugh half an hour over a fart), and commenting it over a drink.
  
  If you liked The Royal Tenenbaums, you'll like this one too, four thumbs up ;)
  
  
• Unlimited comedy and tearful humanity
  By AA5RQTEXJ2UXE on 2008-05-28
  Wes Anderson directs this movie about three brothers on a spiritual journey. In true comedy form, we get to see the brotherly love and jealously that siblings often have for each other. I knew this was going to be a wonderful comedy, but what always takes me aback is the soulful humanity that is in Wes Anderson movies. Once again we get to see Owen Wilson, Bill Murray (in a cameo), Jason Schwartzman, and Anjelica Huston. But we also see the great Adrien Brody playing one of the three brothers. While your laughing, you just might be surprised to find tears falling. This is a wonderful film to share with family.
  
  
• Another fine addition to Anderson's filmography
  By A1JXE27STRRE0H on 2007-12-30
  Director Wes Anderson's film about three rather quirky brothers trying to reconnect (both literally and metaphorically) on a train ride through India after a year of estrangement does have a few bumps along the track. Sometimes the quirkiness is a bit too much to take, but those moments are few and far between. The climax of the film is masterfully done and explains the aforementioned estrangement quite beautifully.
  
  Darjeeling Limited's themes center on discovery through journey, family and coping with loss. And like Anderson's two previous films (Life Aquatic & Royal Tenenbaums) Darjeeling Limited manages to explore these themes in a way that's comical, heart wrenching, yet ultimately uplifiting all at the same time.
  
  
• Lost your pet snake on the train?
  By A126KX6FVI4T66 on 2008-05-28
  Three brother on a vision quest to see their mother
  who has become a nun in India learn something about life and death and friendship.
  Wisdom is probably not included in their rewards for the road trip.
  But becoming brothers again has a value.
  
  
• Can You Say B-O-R-I-N-G?
  By A3AOKQCH0YBZDS on 2008-06-01
  Ugh, this movie was painfully sloooow to watch! There was some mildly funny humor here and there, but over all the movie was atrocious!!
  
  Take three estranged & dysfunctional brothers that don't trust each other. Then place them together on a 1st class train compartment to travel across India in search of "Enlightenment". All the while each one of them goes about undermining each others trust for most of the movie. Sounds like they each have a lot of unresolved issues/baggage and an odd upbringing to boot.
  
  Somehow or another through finally meeting up with their mother, who is a nun in India, and has abandoned them all every opportunity she can find to do so and over coming their father's death, do the finally find peace in an odd sort of way or so it seems. The movie doesn't make it clear.
  
  
  
  
• A review for Real Men.
  By A3LW8D1MEPIOI6 on 2008-06-17
  This film is described in the Product Description as a "hilarious adventure". This is not true. The running time of 91 minutes is probably true... but you can cut this down if you leave the DVD running while you go get a drink and stop it as soon as the credits start.
  
  To sum it up: It starts with a short film about a guy in a hotel room, someone who might be his ex-girlfriend visits and they have sex, but not in a good way. Nothing is explained, which sets a precedent for the main film.
  Three brothers meet on a train crossing India. They love each other, or hate each other, but not in a funny way. Their father died a year ago, this was not funny. They are all weird and rude, but not in a funny way. They do tourist stuff but NOTHING FUNNY EVER HAPPENS. At the end of the film they decide to go back to their lives and sort themselves out... instead they don't and it feels like the whole movie is about to start again (this is perhaps funny, but only in an ironic sense, i.e. ironic it is not funny).
  
  This movie may appeal to chicks and those who make up terms like "cultural self-reflection".
  
  
• Your Fifth or Your First? It Matters
  By A2FWEZ0QS8N7A7 on 2007-12-19
  So how many Wes Anderson films have you seen? If Darjeeling is your first, you may well give more than three stars to this story of three brothers more or less trying to reconnect as they more or less search for their mother on a slow train through a lot of India. If, as with me, it is your fifth you may find that the characters' quirkiness has become just a bit too pat, that the meandering plot twists feel arbitrary not right and that the film might have been better titled Wes and the Gang Go to India. That's not to say that Darjeeling fails to entertain. It is splendidly shot, very well-acted, funny, and sometimes moving. For one fifteen or twenty minute segment that begins with an attempted rescue in a flooded river, it achieves grace and wisdom, and is as good as anything Anderson has directed. It also has a priceless opening sequence with Bill Murray and, as often in Anderson's films, Anjelica Huston bringing both common sense and majesty to the mix. But even with those assets, Darjeeling feels more canned than true.
  
  
• Boring....horrible
  By A4PPZNQF1X2IY on 2008-03-28
  Another Wes Anderson movie, unfortunately they get worse one by one.
  This movie is basically Royal Tennenbaums II, except set in India.
  Owen Wilson is the same pretentious, faux-humility character as always.
  The scenes sputter along, with a lot of dead air, and dialogue about nothing imparticular. There is a vague gloom and sense of failure, again,
  and a screenplay that could be written over a bottle of $6 chenin blanc.
  Also, the intro "short film" was utterly dreadful and pointless. I'm sorry, but this is vapid garbage.
  
  
• The Boringly Unlimited .... On the Verge of Funny
  By A56AA52NMMKYQ on 2008-03-29
  Three American brothers (Brody, Wilson and Schwartzman) meet in India to take a train trip aboard the Darjeeling Limited. Their ostensible purpose is to re-bond after the death of their father, to seek enlightenment and pursue a spiritual journey. Later, it develops that the ulterior motive for one of the brothers (Owen Wilson) organizing the trip is to connect with their mother (Angelica Huston), who currently lives as a nun in an isolated Indian monastery.
  
  They encounter their mother, who was reluctant to receive them. Yet, they do not find the closure that they were seeking and that they hoped for. At the movie's end, they sprint with their luggage to catch their departing train, eventually jumping aboard after tossing their baggage. Maybe they had baggage they were carrying around about the death of their father and their relationship with their mother.
  
  The movie is flagged as a comedy. I'm not sure I laughed once in 90 minutes. It is on the verge of being funny, on the verge of being profound.
  
  Instead, I give it two stars and three NO-DOZ, to help you stay awake while watching it.
  
  
  
• Along for the Ride on the "Darjeeling Limited"
  By A24J2U46E90H5R on 2008-04-07
  I first saw this movie without "Hotel Chevalier" (the first 13 minute part with Jason Schwartzman and Natalie Portman in the hotel room) and I have to say I like it much better without it! "Hotel Chevalier" just doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the movie (except for the matching luggage of course). "The Darjeeling Limited" on it's own though I really adore. There's no complex storyline or real plot twists, so this is not a movie for everyone. I can understand how some people will dislike it and feel that it's unorganized or pointless. However, the real point of watching the movie is the interaction between the three brothers (Schwartzman, Owen Wilson, and Adrien Brody) and their efforts to shed their baggage, literally. They are brothers but don't really seem to know each other, they are on a train that is richly colored and exotic but ends up getting lost, lurking in the background is the never totally clarified death of their dad, and a mysterious mother who has gone MIA in her maternal role. It's not a complete story, more of an outline that the viewers are trusted to fill in themselves. Wilson's character has an itinerary for their spiritual awakening and mysterious bandages around his head. Schwartzman is the quiet brother who writes short stories with characters no one believes are fictional. Brody (who gives a casually great performance) is wearing their dad's prescription sunglasses, carrying his car keys and believes that he was the father's 'favorite'. I've seen other Wes Anderson movies, but I have never liked one as much as the "Darjeeling Limited". I knew as soon as I saw the opening sequence with Bill Murray running for the train and being overtaken by Brody (with music by the Kinks playing) that I was going to love watching this film. It's not only beautiful to watch because of the vivid colors, settings and music, but also because of the lack of storyline to keep track of. This movie deals with loss and how different people cope in a darkly deadpan comedic way, it's not trying to tackle any world problems. It's best to just sit back and enjoy the ride on the "Darjeeling Limited".
  
  
• Yep, it's Wes Anderson alright
  By A1K4IXDP4AF3D0 on 2008-05-08
  There's no doubt about. Right from the beginning, it's obvious that this is a Wes Anderson film. Some people feel like he needs to move on to something more substantial, more serious, or whatever. They feel like his films are too cute, too stylized, and the characters too brooding and self-centered. To this, Rolling Stone's Peter Travers asked why we would ever want him to do something he's not good at. Martin Scorcese does violence because he's so good at it. Other directors have their specialty.
  
  This is a good film. I found it to be moving and surprisingly serious, given the relative lightheartedness of some of his earlier stuff. The cinematography is beautiful, the setting is wonderful. As always, the music rocks. Great cast, great dialogue. There's one scene that I felt was too convenient, too forced, and too plot-handy (the brothers save some boys in a river). But that's really the only weakness I can point to.
  
  Basically, at the request of the eldest brother, the three of them go on a train trip through India to reconnect with each other and their spirituality. There are some wonderful moments and the ending is cute but moving and appropriate. Adrien Brody is a nice addition to the Anderson troupe.
  
  I'll be honest - it is a bit annoying that the brothers are filthy rich, and it makes us less sympathetic to their problems and their brooding. And Anderson's characters' brooding does get a bit old at times. But despite that, I just really found myself liking this movie. I'm a total sucker for his films, and I think this one ranks up with the best of them.
  
  
• German Ladies Were Great
  By A1IWWRZJOXOSYP on 2008-05-20
  Wes Anderson became famous to me when he did a credit card commercial with a car blowing up. It played endlessly and was interesting. "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" was really very boring and awful for me. It didn't spark. It wasn't funny. "Darjeeling Limited" is much like that film. Anderson was nominated for an Oscar along with Owen Wilson for "The Royal Tenenbaums." He won a "Best Original Screenplay" award for this film with Jason Schwartzman from New York Film Critics Online. I enjoyed having much of the film set in India. It gave it a mystical quality. The featurette on the DVD was interesting to watch how they used Indian artists to paint the train and all of the symbolic meaning to the pictures that one doesn't focus upon within the context of the film.
  
  The reason this film didn't work for me was that while it seemed to be trying to go in different directions at the same time, one of those was comedy. Owen Wilson's Francis had no serious level to his characterization; neither was he funny. He had energy and was interesting, but seemed mostly odd. Jason Schwartzman who is the son of Talia Shire from the Rocky movies was most interesting in the short "The Hotel Chevalier." However, while Natalie Portman's lack of dress was interesting, the short prologue film was open-ended with no sense of climax. Schwartzman's Jack was a self-centered rich kid with hormones. It seemed like he was playing a sad sack brand of comedy, but it wasn't funny. Adrien Brody was simply in the wrong movie at the wrong time. He spent much of his time as Peter wandering around in boxer shorts, abandoning his pregnant wife over issues of commitment. Perhaps the most interesting thing in the film is when he admits that he got married with the idea that they'd get divorced. Amara Karan does a nice job as the train's hostess Rita who balances a relationship with the Chief Steward played by Waris Ahluwalia. These characters brought a sense of story to the film as we seemed to drop in on their relationship at a critical point. Angelica Huston won her Best Supporting Actress Oscar for "Prizzi's Honor" in 1985. She was inexplicable in this film, abandoning her kids to help a remote village, not going to her husband's funeral, and then disappearing before anything was resolved. While the other actors seemed to be trying to be funny, Huston was decidedly dramatic, adding to the completely disjointed feel of the film. Wallace Wolodarsky who was in "Life Aquatic" and played Brandon seemed very ordinary. I did enjoy the two busybody German ladies played by Trudy Mathis & Margot Godros. They were funny. Overall, this film didn't work for me on most levels. Taxi!
  
  
• horrible
  By A14MMRS8E5HJIF on 2008-06-15
  I usually write really profound, deep reviews. I just finished watching this movie, and am so annoyed that I'm not going to bother wasting any brain-power on it.
  
  This movie sucks.
  
  I like all of his other movies.
  
  This was a total and complete waste of time. Anderson probably thinks he is being clever and challenging and modern. This came off as totally superficial and pointless.
  
  
• . . .limited
  By A25TJD77EBERPD on 2008-07-20
  A tender remake of the Beatle's movie, "Help", starring The Three Stooges, partly filmed on "Groundhog Day".
  
  There are two messages in this film. The first: Americans--crass, obnoxious, self-absorbed, and unsettingly off the beat of any other society--are surprisingly loveable and oddly helpful. The second, in the words exchanged between two parties in the film who could not reconcile:
  "Yes, the past happened. But it's over, isn't it?"
  "Not for us."
  
  
  

• Juno (Single-Disc Edition)
• No Country for Old Men
• Into the Wild
• There Will Be Blood
• Death at a Funeral